These are the UK's most-hated banks

Banker-bashing may have become something of a national sport in recent years - but what about bank-bashing?

A new survey has revealed UK banking customers' most-hated lenders. The so-called Big Four make up the top of the list, with Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) scoring just 49.3 on a reputation scale of 0-100, while Lloyds follows, with a score of 57.3.

But although much has been made of challenger banks' attempts to show a more lovable side to the sector, the survey, by the Reputation Institute, showed TSB (which was, technically, spun-off from Lloyds) was ranked third, at 59.7.

Meanwhile, Nationwide comes out as the UK's most-loved lender, with a score of 72.4, followed by Virgin Money, which received a score of 69.8.

The Reputation Institute said any score above a 80 was "excellent", while 70-79 was "strong", 60-69 was "average" and 40-59 was "weak".

Lender

Score

RBS

49.3

Lloyds Banking Group

57.3

TSB Banking Group

59.7

Barclays

59.8

HSBC

62.1

The Co-op Bank

62.4

NatWest

65.1

Metro Bank

66.6

Halifax

67.3

Santander

67.4

Virgin Money

69.8

Nationwide Building Society

72.4

It's not the first time RBS has lost out in this study, remaining firmly in the "weak" category for the past four years. Meanwhile, Nationwide has remained at the top of the rankings.

However, it added that HSBC's reputation has been "fragile and subject to substantial variances year on year".

“Halifax and NatWest’s’ focus on consumer fairness appears to have had a stronger impact on reputation than the more corporate messages adopted by the likes of Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland," said Kasper Ulf Nielsen, executive partner at the Reputation Institute.

“It is evident that those most clearly associated with the financial crisis find it hard to shake off their bad reputations, whilst mutual and new, disruptive entrants to the market are performing the strongest.”